2019-07-09 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                         9 JULY 2019


Council made a submission to the State Government in response to the draft regional plan. As part
of this submission Council addressed the capacity of land within the Urban Footprint to
accommodate projected population growth. Noosa Council’s draft submission to ShapingSEQ
notes.
Council has concluded not to support any changes to the Urban Footprint under the new
ShapingSEQ for reason that there is no need demonstrated currently for additional urban land to
be allocated to Cooroy, or any other part of Noosa Shire. Council has previously outlined in this
submission that it considers sufficient capacity exists in the current Noosa Plan to accommodate
the projected demand for dwellings until 2041.
The Noosa Plan (8 June 2018)
Under the Noosa Plan the land is zoned Rural and a new application for lot reconfiguration would
be a code assessable application. A code assessable application would include assessment
against the Tewantin and Doonan Locality Code and the Reconfiguring a Lot Code.
The Noosa Plan envisages that Rural zoned land will be predominantly used for open space and
farming activities. The intent is for this land to be appropriately managed and protected such that
the scenic and environmental values, the distinct rural amenity and agricultural productivity are
preserved. Rural residential type lots are intended to only occur on land zoned for rural settlement.
Accordingly, it is considered that existing approval is inconsistent with the Noosa Plan (2018). The
inconsistency relates to the Desired Environmental Outcomes, the Tewantin and Doonan Locality
Code and the Reconfiguring a Lot Code.
Specifically, the proposal would be in conflict with the following Desired Environmental Outcomes:
a)    AGRICULTURE USES
      Agricultural industry is maintained by—
      ii.    conserving land for economically viable and environmentally sustainable agricultural
             purposes;
      iii.   preventing the fragmentation of agricultural land;
The proposed development of 52 rural residential lots does not meet this Desired Environmental
Outcome as it will result in the fragmentation of agricultural land and does not conserve land for
agricultural purposes. It is noted that as part of the current appeals Council has engaged a
consultant agricultural scientist who has identified that the proposal occupies land that is likely to
be good quality agricultural land (GQAL) on a significant number of the proposed 52 lots.
The proposal would be in conflict with the following Overall Outcomes of the Tewantin and Doonan
Locality Code:
12.7.2
y)    Rural settlement, at varying densities consistent with the environmental constraints of the
      area, offer high levels of amenity and moderate to high levels of convenience, accessibility
      and servicing;
uu)   For the Rural Zone—rural land is protected and appropriately managed such that:-
      i.     the scenic and environmental values, the distinct rural amenity and agricultural
             productivity of the locality are preserved and are not adversely impacted as a
             consequence of development on or adjacent to that land; and
These Overall Outcomes are not satisfied as the proposed development will facilitate the
development of detached housing and will result in dwellings being the dominant building form in
the preferred rural setting. The residential development that would arise as a consequence of the
reconfiguration layout is expected to occur on land within the Rural Settlement zoned land and
land has already been allocated for this purpose. Furthermore, the approved lot densities are not
consistent with the environmental constraints of the site which contains juvenile koala habitat trees
and land identified as Riparian Buffer. Furthermore, the proposal does not protect the scenic and

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